FIRE UP THE BELLOWS
Kicking goals is an exhausting activity. Nerve cells in the lungs that monitor oxygen levels in the blood are alerted. They realise you require more oxygen to be sent to the blood in your legs so they prompt your lungs’ respiratory centres to increase the rate and depth of your breathing.

GOING NUTS
As your left foot snap sails through the sticks, the balls resting in your boxers score a hit of testosterone. From here, it heads around your body, binding with androgen receptors and firing up the parts of your brain that control aggression. When playing at home, your instinct to protect your territory sees a 40 per cent increase in testosterone.

BRAIN BLISS
As the umpire begins to indicate the length of a certain part of his anatomy, your brain produces a chemical called anandamine. As it reacts with CB1 receptors in your brain, it releases endorphins – hormones that trigger the euphoria that precedes your celebration.

KICKING TICKER
Next, your pulse starts racing. The left ventricle of your heart pumps at four times the normal rate, as your jerking limbs require more oxygenated blood. For those with heart conditions the euphoria of seeing a goal lowers the blood pressure that can increase the risk of a heart attack by 25 per cent.

EYE-BALLING
In that goal-square scramble, muscles in your eyelids are stretched to the limit. When you kick accurately your joy is accompanied by a dilation of your pupils. Get carried away and blood vessels in your eye will swell, giving you the red-eyed appearance of an apoplectic coach.

LUMBER LEGS
The joy, the excitement, the relief. As the ball is taken back to the centre square your legs suddenly feel heavy. All that excitement had your legs working at 110 per cent. But as things calm down, the adrenaline in your muscles is shipped out and replaced by the stress hormone cortisol, which saps your strength. Relieve tension and increase blood flow with 10 standing jumps.